BB&L Verdict Named to Courtroom View Network’s Top 10 Defense Verdicts of 2016

We are pleased to announce that a major BB&L defense verdict has been selected by Courtroom View Network (CVN) as one of the Top 10 Defense Verdicts of 2016. In August 2016, Shareholders Mike Madden and Bill Leedom secured a hard-fought decision on behalf of Dr. Jens Chapman and the University of Washington in Wilson v. Chapman, et al.

From CVN’s website:

“Why it made the list:

In 2010 after prosecutors accused Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Synthes of injecting bone cement into the spines of patients who suffered serious side effects, four company executives pleaded guilty to charges of conducting illegal clinical trials of the bone cement on humans.

However in 2016, when the family of a woman who died after having the cement injected accused a top surgeon of knowingly participating in an unauthorized “test market” for the compound, a Washington state jury cleared him of all liability.

The 12-member jury deliberated for more than three days—at one point telling the judge they were nearly deadlocked—before deciding 10-2 that 67-year-old Reba Golden’s death in 2007 wasn’t caused by any negligence on the part of her surgeon, Dr. Jens Chapman, or UW’s Harborview Medical Center. Golden’s attorneys claimed Chapman injected Synthes’ Norian bone cement into her spine despite the FDA not approving it for that use, and that he failed to warn Golden of the cement’s potential to cause fatal bleeding and blood clots.

Golden’s family sought $6 million and asked that five percent responsibility be assigned to Synthes. Synthes was a defendant in the case when the trial began, but they reached a confidential settlement with the plaintiffs shortly before attorneys delivered their closing arguments after a trial that spanned most of the summer.

The jury did find that Chapman failed to warn Golden about Norian’s risks, but also determined that even with a clearer warning a reasonable person still would have consented to its use in back surgery.

Other similar lawsuits against Synthes have been settled before trial, and this case marked the first time claims related to the use of Norian cement in spinal surgery went before a jury, thus making it our number 3 choice for most impressive defense verdict of 2016.”

Congratulations to Mike, Bill and the rest of the trial team! To view the entire list, as well as video from the Wilson proceedings, click here.

If you have questions about this client alert or related topics, please feel free to contact either of the attorneys below: